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THE BEGINNINUS 
OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 

BV JAMES BARNES. 



WITH few exceptions tlie important 
settlements of the British colonies 
of America were situated on the Atlantic 
coast, or at least on the inland waters 
having- direct communication with the 
sea. Thus the early settlers were per- 
force a seafaring people ; their children 
grew accustomed to the handling of small 
craft, and took up the oar and tiller as 
naturally as they took up the scythe and 
spade. 

Within twenty years after the settle- 
ment of Plymouth the trade of the ship- 
wright flourished to such an extent that 
native-built vessels, both open and decked 
over, were plying a regular trade along 
the rocky coast of New England or the 
shores of Long Island and Connecticut, 
exchanging their wares with the Indians 
for furs and pelts even before the stumps 
were removed from the corn-fields at 
home. Many ships were constructed of 
sufficient size to make the voyage to the 
Newfoundland Banks, where they com- 
peted witii the numerous Eng-lish, French, 
and Spanish vessels that sailed their thou- 
sands of miles to reach these rich fishing- 
g-rounds. 

Cooper, in his Naval History, states 
that as early as 1615 tlie P]ng]ish had 170 
vessels engaged in the New England fish- 
eries, and the other maritime nations of 
Europe, exclusive of the Dutch, had about 
300. An added incentive for tlie Amer- 
ican colonist and pioneer to follow the 
sea for a living may be found in the law 



passed in 1639 by the Colony of Massa- 
chusetts Bay ; by which law the fisherman 
din-ing the season, and the shipwright at 
all times, were exempt from military duty 
— no small privilege when the frequent 
conflicts with the Indians and thew^aging 
of war for the protection of the inkuid 
settlements forced almost every able- 
bodied man to drop his work and take 
up his sword and matchlock at a mo- 
ment's notice. 

In the year 1641 the first large vessel 
to be constructed in America was built at 
Salem by the regicide Hugh Peters. This 
vessel was 300 tons bui-den, over twice 
as large as any that had heretofore been 
constructed, although a "goodely sized 
ship" had been built eight years pre- 
viously. Sad to relate, the ambitious 
builder and designer was subsequently 
executed in England for the crime of 
high treason. The end of his vessel is 
not told in history. 

From the very outset, without excep- 
tion, the little ve.ssels employed in the 
coastwise trade were armed w[th guns of 
light weight and small calibi-e to guard 
against Indian treachery or surprise, and 
later all those that put to sea were forced 
to be ready to defend themselves from the 
pirates that very early began to find much 
profit in cruising along the coast; their 
depi-edationscau.sed much uneasiness, but 
for a long time few concerted attempts 
Avere made for their extermination. They 
landed and hid their plunder at various 



548 



HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



poijits between Maine and the Carolinas, 
and small eifort was made to stop tliem. 
Before tlie outbreak of hostilities against 
the Dutch in 1654. however, the colonies 
of Hartford and New Haven joined to- 
gether in arming and equipping a small 
cruiser of ten guns, intended to put a 
stop to the encroachments of the New- 
Hollanders along the Sound, and to pre- 
vent hostilities between the Narragansett 
and the Montaulc tribes. Her presence 
seemed to have the desired effect ; the 
Dutch lield aloof, and there was no hostile 
meeting of tlie Indians. The first con- 
flict between American .sailors and an 
enemy took place on the high seas in 
1645, when a small vessel, built at Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, carrying an arma- 
ment of fourteen guns and a crew of 
thirty men, bound for the Canary Islands, 
fell in with a Barbary corsair, and after 
a day's fighting beat her oft" — a rather 
unusual event. 

The peaceful capture of New Nether- 
laiuls from the Dutch gave totlie colonies 
of England the important port of New 
Amsterdam, at which tliey had long cast 
envious glances. It was just at this time 
that England was gaining the maritime 
supremacy of the world, so long divided 
among the powers of Holland, Spain, and 
Portugal, and English vessels in ever-in- 
creasing numbers sailed to our shores. 

But there were in commission in the 
year 1676 some hundreds of native-built 
craft read}^ to compete with them; in the 
neighborhood of one thousand had been 
built in Massachusetts alone, and there 
were in the vicinity of Boston no less 
than thirty master-sliii)wrights who were 
ready to turn out vessels ranging from 
10 tons to 250 tons in bui-den. 



There followed a glut of commercial 
carriers in the harbors. Some ships were 
begging cargoes and some were seeking 
other occupations; and alas! it is beyond 
question that manj^of the alleged cruisers, 
privateers fitted out ostensibly against 
England's enemies, and hailing from 
American ports, acknowledged little or 
no allegiance to any power when on the 
high seas, plundering friend and foe in- 
discriminately. Piracy was rife: only a 
vessel that could show the right to fly the 
flag of England enjoj^ed immunity. 

Slowly legitimate trade increased, how- 
ever, especially in New England. The 
whale-fishing industry began to flourish; 
Nantucket, New Bedford, and the towns 
on Massachusetts Bay sent many vessels 
into Noi-thern waters — fine ships manned 
and outfitted for long and dangerous 
cruises, built to face ice and stormy 
weather. 

But what have all these early facts and 
figures to do with the founding of an 
American navy, may be asked. The re- 
ply is simple — they were the beginning 
of the beginning; for by the descendants 
of the seamen employed at this time in 
American ships, and in much the same 
class of vessels, were the united colonies 
to make their first venture as a nation 
against a common enemy. But England 
before this time arrived had not ignored 
their aid. During the war of 1739 against 
Spain, and the war five years later against 
France, the colonies supplied to the mo- 
ther-country^ ships and men that lent im- 
portant service in helping the vessels and 
forces of her regular navy. The success- 
ful siege of Loui.sburg, Nova Scotia, in 
1745, could never have been brought to so 
earlj'^ a conclusion had it not been for the 









THE FIRST SAILING ORDER ISSUED BY THE "NAVAL COMMITTEE. 




HUGH PETERS. EXECUTED AT CHARING CROSS 



fleet of twelve vessels armed and made 
read3^ solely within the provinces of Mas- 
sachusetts, Rliode Island. Connecticut, 
and New Hampshire. Tliis, tlie first 
American fleet, was commanded by Cap- 
tain Edward Tyng, of the Massachusetts 
Colonial Marine, a brave and intrepid 
sailor, who had turned to war from the 
jieaceful cour.se of trade with all a Yan- 
kee's adaptability. As an example of the 
thrift of the New-Englander of that day, 
Governor Shirley laid great stress, in his 
written instructions, on an order for these 
ships to go well provided with cod-lines, 
in order "to subsist tlie troops and sea- 
men as much as possible on tlie products 
of the sea." Sir Peter Warren was in 
command of the naval force sent from 
England, and of course he superseded the 
colonial commanders. 

For bravery during this expedition, after 
the fall of Louisbu rg, a number of officers 
received commissions in the King's ser- 
vice, which many accepted eagerly. But 
prior to this, and for years afterwards. 



many of the sons of prominent Ameri- 
cans entered the English navy as mid- 
shipmen. 

This article is not intended as a resume 
of the help lent to Great Britain by the 
ships and sailors of New England; all 
that is an introduction merely, and it is 
necessary to hasten over the i-est of this 
period and arrive at the time at which 
the heai'ts of the colonies were becoming 
stirred against the molher-couiitry. owing 
to the short-sightedness of her jwlicy and 
the enforcement of legislative usurpation. 
America had learned much during the 
long years that her affections were bound 
up with those of England, and it was but 
slowly that the severance of these ties 
began. 

During the attempts to enforce the Nav- 
igation Act many events occurred that 
should have taught Parliament that the 
interests of the new country were not to 
be trified with. Surely hints to this effect 
were plentiful. In fact, so usual was the 
disregard of American skippers for the re- 



550 



HARPERS NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



quirements imposed upon them that they 
regarded the act that made it necessary 
for vessels to be f urnislied with the King's 
permission to traffic as a dead letter, and 
any attempt to enforce this high-handed 
interference with what the colonies consid- 
ered the rights of freedom was sure to be 
followed by trouble. 'Die destruction of 
an English revenue-schooner was the di- 
rect result of sucli an attempt in the year 
1772 — a year when all the country was 
arrayed, in sentiment at least, against the 
aggressions of the government in Eng- 
land, a time when the royalist officials on 
this side of the water should have used 
forbearance and exercised much care in 
handling their powers. The affair re- 
ferred to took place on the 17th of June, 
when the schooner Gcispee attempted to 
hold up tiie Providence packet Hcuina, in 
Long Island Sound. As the commander 
of the latter refused to obey the summons 
to heave to, he was fired at and hotly 
chased by the armed vessel, but owing to 
her light draught tlie packet escaped over 
a bar on which the schooner grounded. 
The rest of the story is too well known 
to require repeating. Tlie stranded ves- 
sel was boarded by a party of volunteers 
from Providence under cover of night; 
two of her company were wounded, in- 
cluding the commandingofficer; and then, 
after her people had been set ashore, she 
was set fii-e to and blown up — a fine illu- 
mination for the folks gathered along the 
shore. 

England exerted evei-y effort to find 
out who were the perpetrators of this 
"heinous crime against the crown," of- 
fering large rewai'ds for information, but 
without effect, although it must have 
been well known that Cai)taiu Whipple 
of Providence was the leader of the 
Americans, and there were many who 
could have pointed a directing finger. 

Tiie unloading of the tea-ships in Bos- 
ton Harbor, and the lefusal of the mer- 
chants in New York to accept the duties 
on tea, do not belong to naval historj', and 
nothing was done by the Americans at 
sea during the time that they were busy 
preparing for the inevitable conflict that 
was to take i)lace on land. British mer- 
chants sent out their cargoes without fear, 
and all tlie ports of entry were filled with 
busy shipping. 

There was little to record for the three 
uneasy years that led up to the commence- 
ment of hostilities in which American sea- 



men played a part. These were but the 
times of resistance to oppre.ssion, and the 
idea of actual wai-fare had not thorough- 
ly taken possession of the American mind. 

But the school of preparation from 
which were graduated many heroes des- 
tined to win laurels had been of such use 
to England that it is strange that she, 
even in the consciousness of her own 
tremendous power, did not recognize the 
fact and heed the warning. She did not 
appear to realize that the men who had 
fought so bravely and so willingly in her 
service on the Canadian coast under Ad- 
miral Warren and at Havana under Sir 
George Pocock would fight quite as brave- 
\}\ and surely no less willingly, in their 
own defence. But the idea of ultimate 
independence was not the first thought of 
those men who by speech and deed were 
animating the general public to make 
resistance to the impositions of the crown. 
Although blood had been spilt and shots 
exchanged at Concord and Lexington, 
there were few so radical or so fai--sight- 
ed as to dream of carrj'ing the conflict 
away from the homes they were protect- 
ing. To .seek to meet Great Britain on 
the element Avhere she held supreme 
would have been considered worse than 
foolish. In fact, it was necessity alone 
that turned the minds of the leaders of 
the Continental Congress to the sea. 

The young army that was gathering 
under the command of Washington was 
in need of arms and powder; other things 
were scarce enough of a truth, but pow- 
der and ball they must have at any price 
of dai'ing. On the 5tli of October, 1775, 
news was received that two transports 
had set sail from England for Quebec, 
loaded with the very things the Amer- 
icans most jieeded. Immediately a ))lot 
(it was nothing more at first) was laid to 
take these vessels, and a committee, con- 
sisting of Silas Deane, John Langdon, 
and John Adams (the hitter's place was 
afterwards taken by Christopher Gads- 
den), was appointed. Authority Avas given 
these gentlemen to outfit two fast-sailing 
vessels, one to carry ten guns and a num- 
ber of swivels, to be manned by eighty- 
five n)en; and the other vessel to carry 
fourteen guns. The only order their 
commanders i-eceived was to set sail and 
cruise to the eastward and intercept the 
expected store-ships. Merchant vessels 
they were to leave unmolested, and it was 
not expected of them to give combat to 




any of the ships of the regular English 
service— a rather sensible precaution. 

It is a remarkable fact that at this 
time, and for many months afterwards, 
the colonies, although in rebellion, yet 
acknowledged their connection with Great 
Britain; the man wlio spoke of anything 
else was a •'fiot-heail," his utterances were 
not listened to, for an act of Parliament 
could have ended the war! But the tem- 



per of tlie coast people was growing to a 
white heat; their doings proved it. The 
capture of the British schooner Marga- 
retta in the harbor of Machias, Maine, in 
the early spring was an evidence of this, 
and although the affair reflects great 
credit upon the inhabitants of the town, 
for the gallant way in which they manned 
a little sloop and captured a vessel larger 
in force of guns and men than they them- 



552 



HARPERS NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



selves could command or muster, it can 
hardly be viewed except in the light of an 
uprising of the people, notwithstanding 
the fact that it was tlie fii-st conflict on 
the water, and has been termed the " Lex- 
ington of the sea." The brave fishermen 
had acted upon an impulse, and had 
chosen their leader, Jeremiah O'Brien, 
only on the instant of their embarking on 
the venture. After the capture of the 
Margaretta, Captain O'Brien took matters 
into his own hands — transferred his fol- 
lowers to his prize, and later sailed out 
and took two small English cruisers that 
it was rumored had been sent expressly to 
bring him in. As a reward for his con- 




ddir^Mr'-^^f^^i/^U^ 



duct he was made a captain in the marine 
of the colony, and given sailing orders to 
do about what he pleased — a commission 
he accepted. 

These were but a few of many similar 
adventures; but. as has been previously 
stated, no official act was promulgated 
until October of the year 1775. General 
Washington had granted permission and 
issued commissions on his own account, 
however, to several vessels to cruise in 



and about Massachusetts Bay in order to 
intercept British store - ships, and their 
efforts were attended with much success; 
a great deal of powder, small-arms, and a 
few cannon — the need of which was much 
felt— were captured and turned over to 
the army. Ten English merchant vessels 
that wei"e taken in one of these private 
foraging expeditions were released, how- 
ever, on the ground that their seizure 
might be considered as an "overt act." 
This delicate distinctioii is rather amusing 
if we take into consideration what the 
probable fate of the Americans would 
have been had ffiey been captured in- 
stead. 

The burning of the town of Falmouth 
bj' Captain Mowat, who acted under the 
orders of the English Admiral Graves, 
caused the colony of Massachusetts to 
grant commissions and direct the seizure 
of English vessels, thus suppressing the 
individual efforts that had hitherto been 
the only way in which America had car- 
ried on the war at sea. The indignation 
caused by Admiral Graves's order also 
compelled the authorities in Philadelphia 
to seek for a means of retaliation, and 
late in Noveinber the Continental Con- 
gress authorized the capture of any armed 
vessel employed against the colonies, or 
any carrying munitions of war for the 
British army or navj'. But it was not 
long before it was recognized that some- 
thing more was necessarj'. After much 
deliberation a naval committee was form- 
ed to take charge of matters, to prepare 
plans, and ascertain the resources of the 
country. The difficulties that beset the 
committee were great and many. 

The organization of the various de- 
])artments of an army to be built up from 
farmers, tradespeople, and n)echanics, 
and welded into a composite whole, was 
no easy task; but all this was as nothing 
comjiared to that of forming an organized 
naval force. For officers they had but 
the merchant mai-ine to draw from, and 
although there were many brave com- 
manders, and the temper of the seafaring 
people was well known, yet tliere was 
none that had experience in maritime 
warfare. The idea of discijiline, of the 
strict obedience to orders and the adher- 
ence to duty that comes from the tradi- 
tions of long service, did not exist. 

The construction of the vessels which 
were required demanded the expenditure 
of much monev, and there was little of it 



:m^^'^m 



~^M 




C 'A P T. ^' It ' 1 1 (.) L A S B 1 D IJ I ■ K 



to answer this demand. Nevertheless, on 
the 13th of December Congress passed a 
law authorizing tlie building- of thirteen 
cruisers, varying in force from ten to 
thirty-two guns. The estimated expense 
was in the neighborhood of $!900,000, and 
the vessels were to be divided among the 
colonies in the following proportions: 
Massachusetts, two ; New York, two ; 
Pennsylvania, four ; Rhode Island, two; 



Connecticut, one; New Hampshire, one; 
and Maryland, one. 

Searching about for officers, the choice 
of Congress settled upon Esek* Hopkins, 
"a brave and gallant se:iman,"to whom 
was given the title of Commander-in- 
Chief. Under him we find the names of 
Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, 

* The old print which we reproduce on p. 557 
erroneously calls him Hobo'/ Hopkins. 



554 



HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



Nicholas Biddle, John Burroughs Hop- 
kins, as captains; and heading- tlie list of 
first lieutenants the name of John Paul 
Jones. The Commander-in-Chief was to 
receive tlie munificent sum of one hun- 
dred and twenty-five dollars a month ; the 
captain of a sliip of twenty guns and up- 
wards received sixty dollars; lieutenant, 
thirty dollars; master, thirty dollars; sur- 
geon, twent3'-five dollars; chaplain, twen- 
ty dollars; midshipmen, twelve dollars; 
gunner, fifteen dollars ; and seamen, eight. 
Officers of smaller ships received still less, 
willi the exception of midshipmen and 
seamen, whose pay remained unchanged. 

Before the act authorizing the construc- 
tion of this miniature nav\', which, by- 
the-way, was expected to be finished by 
tlie following April, Congress had re- 
solved to recruit two battalions of ma- 
rines to be enlisted and commissioned to 
serve during the war, independently of 
the army. 

Now followed a period of great confu- 
sion, of which there is little record, ow- 
ing to the various boards and committees 
that had control of the construction and 
finances. Private subscriptions began to 
come in; shipwrights and artisans were 
found ready to begin their work as soon 
as sufficient timber should be collected; 
volunteers came forward oflPering their 
services as workmen. In Philadelphia 
gentlemen of leisure, shopkeepers, and 
tradesfolk of all kinds reported at the 
ship-yard eager to help. This was the 
first evidence of the intention of the coun- 
try at large to do anything for a naval 
service. Up to this time the colonial 
navy liad done for itself, and had subsist- 
ed on what it could pick up. 

In making a summary of the uses, i-e- 
sults, and influence of the American na- 
val forces during the war of the Revolu- 
tion, it will be found necessary for the 
best understanding to divide the years 
during which hostilities were taking place 
into three periods, each slowly growing 
in witli the other; yet every period, so far 
as the animus tliat moulded it and the 
methods used in carrying on its opera- 
tions are concerned, stands out distinct 
and separate fi'om the rest. 

The guerilla warfare that was cai-ried 
on by the 'longshore folk merged into 
the time when it was found necessary to 
organize a system of sea-robbery in order 
to continue armed resistance on the land. 
But in the conception of the plan to ob- 



tain the necessary sustenance for fighting, 
private property was respected. There 
was no intention of harassment by de- 
stroying the commercial shipping of a 
hostile nation. The Amei-ican cruisers 
■were brigand ships sent out for a purpose 
— to relieve a certain class of vessels of a 
certain class of wealth. They were to do 
this as peaceably as possible. Profit was 
not to be taken into account. Peaceful 
trade Avas left to sail the highways in 
safety. 

But with the growth of the idea of in- 
dependence came the years during which 
tlie American flag in various forms was 
flown from all sorts of craft, armed in all 
sorts of ways, cruising not only along 
our shores, but in far latitudes and dis- 
tant seas. 

The 23d day of March, 1776, was the 
date on which Congress had changed the 
complexion of matters by issuing letters 
of marque, and stating that henceforward 
all public and private crui.sers of the col- 
onies were authorized to capture any ves- 
sel, armed or unarmed, sailing under the 
British flag. This gave an immediate im- 
petus to a naval war. Many of the ves- 
sels that had been lying idle in the shal- 
low harbors and inlets along the coast 
were hastily manned with fishermen and 
merchantmen wlio had been forced into 
idleness b}' the embargo on American 
commerce. Armed with any sort of can- 
non that could be procured, helter-skelter 
they put to sea. Befoi-e the month was 
over the success of these privateers caused 
better-appointed vessels to be sent out, 
and their history would make a volume 
of fine reading. 

Flying the Pine Tree flag, or the Rat- 
tle Snake with the motto "Don't tread 
on me," thej'^ made with all haste for the 
highways of Great Britain's ship-trade. 
There for some years was a rich harvest 
to be reaped. The value of the opera- 
tions of these privateers cannot be over- 
estimated. It must be borne in mind 
that none of the colonies had a regu- 
larly armed vessel at its disposal, nor for 
some time had the Congressional govern- 
ment; but yet it must also be remembered 
that at the commelicement of the year 1775 
the colonial merchant marine consisted 
of little short of 200,000 tons of shipping, 
giving employment to over fifteen thou- 
sand American sailors. The ship-builders 
of Massachusetts and Connecticut had 
turned out of their .ship-yards vessels that 




JOHX BARRY. 



could outsail any of their tonnage built 
in Europe. This came because of some 
modification in their lines and sail plans. 
The use of live-oak for their timbers had 
increased their seaworthiness and powers 
of resistance to weather, and, incidentally, 
to round shot. Thus it is seen the mo- 
ment that Congress decided to issue let- 
ters of marque and reprisal, a use was 
found for the Yankee ships and the men 
Avho formerly had sailed in tliem. But 
arrayed against this merchant navy was 
an overwhelming force — if we take mere 
numbers into consideration. Great Brit- 
ain possessed in her regular service three 
hundred and fifty-six vessels of all classes, 
one hundred and forty of which were of 
the line; butevidentlv the English Parlia- 



ment had begun to recognize the "influ- 
ence of sea power," and as it is to-day so it 
was then, not only did England's glory, but 
her very existence, depend upon her navy. 
The year 1776 saw great preparations for 
extending every branch of naval service 
in Great Britain. It cannot be claimed 
that the war Avith the colonies alone was 
responsible for this, but doubtless it bore 
some weiglit. In addition to the vessels 
already in connni.ssion. sixteen sail of the 
line were ordered to be put in readiness. 
Press warrants were issued, and by i-oyal 
proclamation a bounty was offered to all 
seamen who should enter the navy. Dur- 
ing this one year 21,000 seamen and 6665 
marines were voted for the naval service. 
On the coast of North America by the 1st 



550 



HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



of July, 1776. the Englisli had stationed 
seventy -eiglit men-of-war, mounting 2078 
guns. The American navy at the same 
time consisted of but twenty-five cruisers, 
mounting 422 guns; but six of these ves- 
sels had been built for war purposes. The 
others were merchantmen, purchased and 
fitted out for the occasion ; the largest of 
them could be classed only as second-class 
frigates. Strange to say, at no time dur- 
ing the war were there more than twenty- 
five regulai'ly commissioned Congression- 
al vessels sailing the sea at the same time ; 
and their primary object was to intercept 
the enemy's transports. 

Thus, during this second period into 
which we have divided the war, the na- 
tional vessels were mere adjuncts of the 
army and supply -ships to Washington 
and his generals. In the earlier years 
their encounters with the British men-of- 
war redounded much more to the credit 
of the latter than to themselves. This is 
true with a few notable exceptions that 
could be counted almost upon tlie fingers 
of one's hands. In the first two years the 
English were winning almost all the ac- 
tions. But the private cruisers were ren- 
dering good accounts of themselves, and 
in speaking of the naval forces of the 
United States during the Revolution the 
privateers must not be excluded. Eng- 
lish testimony to this effect is not want- 
ing, for on February 6, 1778, Mr. Wood- 
bridge, M. P., testified at the bar of the 
House of Lords as follows: "The num- 
ber of ships lost by capture or destroyed 
by American privateers since the com- 
mencement of the war is 733, of which, 
deducting for those retaken and restored, 
tliere remain 559, the value of which, in- 
cluding the ships, cargoes, etc., amount- 
ed, upon a very moderate calculation, to 
1,800,633 pounds sterling." 

The insurance to the West Indies, Amer- 
ica, and Africa had increased from two 
and a half per cent, to fifteen per cent., 
unless the ship was one of very superior 
force. 

The privateers daringly conducted their 
operations off the coasts of Great Britain, 
and the English government was obliged 
to furnish convoys for the Irish coast 
trade ! The West Indian colonies of Great 
Britain sutl'ered from the outset, and com- 
l)lained to the home authorities. The in- 
habitants, depending a great deal upon 
English commodities, actually feared tliat 
they would have to undergo the terrors 



of starvation. It is impossible in such an 
article as this to recount the details of the 
single actions of the war, or to do more 
than refer to conflicts where American 
vessels engaged those of England. The 
first cruise of the fleet under Conniiodore 
Hopkins was so disastrous that the com- 
modoi-e was censured and relieved from 
his command for allowing the Glasgoiv, 
a twenty-gun English ship, to escape him 
afte)' she had sailed through his fleet of 
five sail and engaged three of his vessels 
in succession. But the doings of tiie 
Alfred, of 24 guns, the Columbus, of 20 
guns, the Lexington, of 16 guns, the Ran- 
dolph, of 32 guns, and the Raleigh, of 32 
guns, have handed their names down to 
histor\\ 

A short chi-onological list, giving a 
few of the more important actions that 
took place after the issuance of the letters 
of marque, is not amiss in tliis connection. 
On May 17, 1776, a British ship, the Hope, 
laden with supplies, was captured in Bos- 
ton Bay and bx-ought safely into port. On 
June 17, six American privateers (mere 
'longshore craft) captured the George and 
the Arabella in Boston Bay ; 320 prisoners 
were taken. On July 7, 1777, the United 
States frigate Hancock was captured by 
a British squadron; and on March 14 of 
the following year the American fi-igate 
Alfred was captured by the British ships 
Ariadne and Ceres; and three days later 
came the tragic end of brave Biddle in 
the Randolph, that blew up with 305 
men while engaged with the Yarmouth, a. 
British ship almost twice the Randolph's 
size — four men only were saved. This 
is a sad chapter in recounting the doings 
of American vessels in home waters. 

The arrival of the French fleet in Amer- 
ica under the Count d'Estaing might be 
said to begin a sei)arate history of naval 
operations, but although of great service 
to the cause of liberty, and one that should 
be acknowledged with gratitude, the doings 
of the Fj'encli. their losses and victories, 
can hardly be ti-eated of in an article per- 
taining to Anierican naval history. They 
acted independently of Congressional au- 
thority, and .seldom in connection with 
any naval force of the United States. 

The third period, which began in the 
year 1777, shows a more aggressive spirit 
and a complete change of temper in the 
conniiittees and authorities who had charge 
of the conduct of naval afifairs. Conyng- 
ham's cruise in the Surprise, and the ap- 







pearance of tlie American flag on national 
vessels armed and equipped in Europe, 
opened a new field for adventure and 
conquest, and brought before the eyes of 
the world the most romantic and pictu- 
resque character, perhaps, in all sea his- 
tory — a man more maligned, perhaps 
more overrated, less understood, than any 
Yankee commander, and in whose defence 
or condemnation more volumes have been 



written than in that of any other seafarer 
— John Paul Jones. 

The success of his cruise iu the Ranger, 
a vessel that he described as exceedingly 
crank and of trifling force, is almost un- 
paralleled. He sailed from Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, on the 1st of November, 
1777, and arrived in Nantes on the 2d of 
December, capturing two prizes on the 
passage over. From Quiberon Bay, to 



558 



HARPERS NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



which he had convoyed a mnnber of 
American mercliantnien, Jones wrote (in 
referring to tlie returning of his salute by 
tlie French admiral) to the American 
commissioners in Paris, ''I am happy to 
have it in my power to congratulate you 
on my liaving seen the American Hag for 
tlie first time recognized in tlie fullest and 
completest manner by the flag of France." 
The colors he refers to were the stars and 
stripes that had been adopted by Congress 
on June 14 of this same year. 

Refitting at Brest, the Ranger sailed on 
that remarkable cruise around the west 
coast of Ireland, returning through the 
Irisli Channel, after liaving captured the 
British sloop of war Drake off the town 
of Carrickfergus, and having threatened 
the town of Whitehaven in Cumberland, 
where Jones set fire to the ships in the 
harbor and frightened the inhabitants back 
into the country'. The story of his land- 
ing in the Isle of St. Mary, and the taking 
of tlie Earl of Selkirk's plate, with its sub- 
sequent return, is interesting as showing 
the peculiar character of this complex in- 
dividual. 

The second cruise Jones made in June of 
1779, in the Bonhomme Richard (an aged 
Indiaman), a most remarkable war ves- 
sel, boasting the most remarkable crew ever 
raked together. The terror that his name 
spread along the coast of England was 
long remembered, and his action off Flam- 
borough Head with the British two-deck- 
er Sera2)is is one of the most hotly con- 
tested and bloody battles in the annals of 
the sea. England, enraged at the humilia- 
tion she suffered by the total defeat of one 
of her best frigates, insisted that Jones held 
no commission from his country, that he 
was but a pii-ale, and as if to prove the 
disdain in which he was held, the King- 
knighted Captain Pearson, the command- 
er of the Serapis. When told of this, 
Jones is said to have remarked, "Never 
mind; if I meet him again, I'll make a 
lord of him." 

Several separate actions occurred dur- 
ing the next three j-ears that are worth the 
mention. On June 1, 1780, the American 
privateer General Pickering cayiiured the 
Englisli ship Golden Eagle: on Ajiril 2, 
1781, the United States frigate Alliance. 
Captain Barry, took the British frigate 
Mars and the sloo^) Minerva. On the 
28tli of the following month, in the same 
vessel. Captain Barry captured the slooi)s 
of war Atalanta and Trepassay. On 



August 11 the United States frigate Trum- 
bull was carried by the British into New 
York. On September 6 the privateer 
Congress captured the sloop of war Sav- 
age, 20 guns. On September 7 occurred 
tlie sea fight off' Cape Henry between 
the British fleet under Graves and the 
French fleet under de Grasse. Three 
days later d'Estaing took two British 
frigates in the Chesapeake. In April of 
1782 occurred one of the most brilliant ac- 
tions of the war, when the American ship 
Hyder Ally, 16 guns, after a severe fight, 
captured the British ship General Monk. 
29 guns. Several minor actions occurred, 
and the United States frigate Charleston 
was lost to the enemy oft" the capes of the 
Delaware, striking her flag to two English 
ships of war, the Diomede and the Quebec. 
On April 19, 1783, to the great relief and 
joy of the country, the cessation of hos- 
tilities between Great Britain and the 
United States was proclaimed hy General 
Washington. 

The results of the naval operations of 
the Revolutionary war can be told in fig- 
ures perhaps better than by any other 
method. Unfoi-tunately it cannot be said 
that the government profited greatly by 
the teachings it had derived. It is rather 
surprising that the American people, de- 
scended from the greatest of maritime 
nations, and so shoilly having finished a 
conflict with the elder country, should 
not have profited more than they did by 
her example in establishing- a naval force 
on a peace footing. 

America lost by capture, wreck, etc., 
but twenty-four regularly armed vessels 
during the war, while the British lost of 
the same class one hundred and two, car- 
rying in all two thousand six hundi'cd 
and twenty- guns. About eight hundred 
vessels of all kinds were captured by the 
American cruisei-s and privateers. Not a 
single Yankee cruiser was taken by the 
privateers of England; yet sixteen Eng- 
lish cruisers were captured by American 
privateers! The value of the cargoes of 
English vessels sent to the United States 
amounted to over ten millions of dollars; 
and it is stated in an English gazetteer 
that of two hundred ships employed in 
the African trade at the commencement 
of the war. only forty remained at the 
clo.se of the year 1777. 

So quickly did the American navy 
dwindle away upon the restoration of 
peace, and so soon were the ships that had 




mim. 







560 



HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 



been captured sold or broken up b}' the 
United States, tliat a competent autliority 
states that when tlie Alliance, the hist of 
these vessels, was sold on the 3d of June, 
1785, the United States once more did not 
own a single ves- 
sel of war ca- 
pable of putting 
to sea. There 
was notliing in 
the Constitution 
about maintain- 
ing a navy on a 
peacefooting; the 
expense frigliten- 
ed the people, and 
it required the 
trouble with the 
Barbary States in 
1790 to bring at- 
tention once more 
to the uses of a 
naval marine. 

The frigates 
ajid armed ves- 
sels that had been 
left in the stocks 
were not finished, 
and but one, 
called the Amer- 
ica, originally 
rated as a 74, 
but subsequently 
changed to a 56, 
was completed in 
1781. John Paul 
Jones was ap- 
pointed by Con- 
gress to command her, but she was never 
put into commission ; and on the .'kl of 
September, the year following her launch- 
ing, she was presented to His Most Chris- 
tian Majesty the King of France, "in 
testimony of the sense entertained by Con- 
gress of his generous exertions in behalf 



of the United States, and to replace the 
Magnifique, of 74 guns, lost in the harbor 
of Boston." 

The navy during the Revolution had 
kept alive the army, and caused re- 
spect to be felt 
for the flag of a 
newcountry. The 
foundations were 
laid upon which 
were built the 
American suc- 
cesses of 1812, 
and from the ex- 
ample and teach- 
ings of the first 
generation of 
Yankee com- 

manders, the sec- 
ond profited. 
The art of ship- 
building took a 
new start that 
resulted in the 
producing of such 
noble vessels as 
the Constitution, 
the President, 
and the United 
States — frigates 
that were spoken 
of as "line-of- 
battle ships in 
disguise." Even 
tlie wellnigh fatal 
PAUL JONES. gunboat policy 
of Mr. Jeflferson 
could not kill the 
spirit that was aroused in the seaboard 
States, and the American sailor was all 
ready to assert himself when called to 
man the ships. The fast-sailing craft of 
Yankee pine and live-oak needed but 
armaments to turn from peaceful trade 
to warlike enterprise. 




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